The Fog Gap Saturation
Daly City sits in the wind gap. It is the front door for the Pacific fog. The marine layer blasts through here daily. The granite markers rarely get dry. The stone reaches full saturation. It holds water like a sponge.
This constant dampness creates a vertical swamp. We see thick green moss, orange lichen, and black algae. It isn't just on the surface. The roots drive deep into the microscopic pores of the stone to hold on against the wind.
Scraping the surface does nothing; the colony is inside the rock. The growth returns in two weeks. Tending uses specialized grave site cleaning services with heavy biological inhibitors. We use a biocide that soaks deep into the stone. We kill the root system entirely. We sterilize the stone so it stays clean.
Salt Air vs. Bronze
The wind here is loaded with salt. It creates a crisis for the thousands of bronze markers in the Colma necropolis. The salt spray eats right through the clear factory lacquer.
Once that seal is broken, the metal starts to die. It creates chlorides. It turns a sickly, chalky green. We call this "Bronze Disease." It pits the metal and eats the lettering.
You can't wash this off. It is chemical corrosion. We specialize in cleaning bronze cemetery markers. We strip the failed coating down to the bare metal. We remove the green rot. Then, we apply a new oil seal and a marine-grade clear coat to lock out the salt air.
Saturated Soil Shift
The ground here gets waterlogged in winter. It turns into pudding. It loses structural tension. Heavy monuments sink or tilt because the soil turns to mush underneath them.
If you are searching for tombstone repair and restoration because a marker is leaning, it is likely a drainage failure. We don't just push the stone back. That won't last. We dig out the mud. We install a bed of angular gravel. Gravel doesn't hold water. It lets the rain pass through. The sharp rocks lock together. They create a solid platform that floats above the mud.
Eucalyptus Oil Stains
Eucalyptus trees surround the cemeteries. They drop oily leaves. When wet leaves stick to white marble, they bleed dark sap. They release a yellow-brown tannin.
This creates a deep stain that looks like rust. Soap won't touch it. We use a chemical poultice. We apply a clay paste that sucks the oil out of the stone pores. We pull the stain out physically without bleaching the finish.